


Batfamily Shorts

by GoAwayOlivia



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a good dad so help me God, Gen, Shorts, prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22350508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoAwayOlivia/pseuds/GoAwayOlivia
Summary: A collection of batfamily prompts and shorts.Chapter 1: Cold with Robin Jason and Good Dad Bruce."Jason's spent most of his life ignoring feelings of discomfort."
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 12
Kudos: 220





	Batfamily Shorts

**Author's Note:**

> If you follow me on Tumblr (comebackolivia.tumblr.com) you've probably already seen this one from our latest Wine and Writes night. If it's new to you, then I hope you enjoy it!

Jason’s spent most of his life ignoring feelings of discomfort. When he was younger, they didn't matter. If he was hungry, too bad; there wasn't any food. If he was cold, all he could do was bundle up in whatever he could find because they didn't have money to pay for heat that month. If his shoes were too small and squishing his toes, well he'd grown out of his shoes and there was no money for new ones. He was pretty familiar with discomfort. At least, he thought he was until his mother died and he was living on the streets. Suddenly the things that had been relegated to discomforts before were now dangers. Hungry turned to starving. Cold became freezing. Thunderstorms were hazardous. Winter was deadly. He'd come across more than one homeless person that went to sleep on a cold night and never woke up the next morning. He'd lived in fear of being one of them.

Now he’s with Bruce and suddenly cold and hungry aren’t constants of his life anymore. There’s still plenty of other discomfort—being Robin isn’t exactly a picnic even if it is the best thing that's ever happened to him. But he has warm clothes, a warm bed to sleep in, and more food than he could ever eat. He doesn’t experience that same terrifying feeling of deep aching hunger anymore. He hasn’t felt that bone deep cold seep into him and slow his mind and body for months.

He feels it now

It's brutally cold on patrol—colder than it's been since Jason started out as Robin. At first, he doesn't really notice. Punching dickheads in the face helps to keep the blood pumping, and the suit's pretty insulated. But not all of being Batman and Robin is kicking butt and taking names. A lot of it is sitting still and quiet in uncomfortable places. And tonight's stakeout has been two hours already and he swears the temperature has dropped by 20 degrees.

He tries not to fidget beside Bruce. He wants to prove he can do this. He _needs_ to prove that he can be just as good as Dick. Dick wouldn't be wimping out because of the cold. Dick would be focused and perfect and exactly what the hell Bruce needed him to be. He _thinks_. He doesn't actually know Dick, but the way Bruce talks about him, the guy has to be perfect. And well, Jason can be that too. He's not a wimp. He's managed these conditions before and come out on top. It's just... the cold is in his _bones_ in a far too familiar way. It pulls him back to nights on the street where he was so cold that he was too scared to fall asleep in case he never woke up again. And then he thinks of the people who _didn’t_ wake up again, their bodies stiff and tinged with blue. He thinks of the little match girl from the storybook in the library, how she lit her matches one by one until there were none left and she was gone. Bad memories and fears he thought he'd relegated to the occasional nightmare flood back into his brain and distract him from the stakeout.

He's already failing.

 _No_. He can do this. He’s not on the street anymore. He has a home and a bed. He’s _Robin_. _He can do this_. He just needs to warm up a little, that’s all. Warm up enough to chase the memories and thoughts away.

He shifts slightly, trying to pull the cape tighter around himself without Bruce noticing. Of course Bruce notices everything ever, so he turns his attention away from the binoculars and over to Jason. Jason forces himself still immediately.

"Everything okay?"

"Yep," Jason replies, trying to keep his tone as blasé as possible, but the second he opens his mouth, a shiver racks through him and his voice hitches on the word. He bites back a curse.

Bruce’s eyes narrow beneath the cowl. "It's gotten a lot colder," he muses, checking the temperature on his phone. "Colder than they'd predicted for tonight." His lips purse together and he glances back at the alley behind the mob owned restaurant where they're hoping to witness a money drop. "We should—"

"No!" Jason interrupts, stiffening. "I can do it!"

Bruce's mouth twists down. "Robin, tonight was a possibility, not a guarantee. It's something that can be done another night."

Jason stands firm, trying his absolute best to keep the shivers at bay. "I can do it. Besides, I dealt with a lot worse than this on the streets. This is nuthin." He can’t take Bruce thinking he can’t cut it. He can’t be a failure.

Bruce scrutinizes him and Jason fights the urge to fidget. He hates when Bruce does this—hates feeling dissected. Bruce sees _everything_. Jason’s freezing, but he doesn't want to give up. He can't give up. Being Robin is everything and without it, where would he even be? He can be as good as Dick. He _has_ to be. He shoves all thoughts of freezing alleyways away once more and glares Bruce down.

Bruce's mouth softens a little. "We'll give it another half hour." Jason starts to protest, but Bruce puts his hand up. "That's all I was going to give it anyway."

Jason squints up at him doubtfully, unable to tell if Bruce means that or if he’s just saying it for Jason’s benefit.

"Thirty minutes," Bruce says again. "And I can make some of Alfred's hot chocolate when we get back. It's not equal to his, but I've gotten pretty good at it."

Jason falters just a little. He's so cold, he's not sure he’ll ever get warm again, but if anything can do it, it's Alfred's hot chocolate. He’d kill for some right now. But... he has to... he can't...

Something drapes over his shoulders, cutting off his thoughts and anxieties. Jason startles and looks up, realizing that while he was worrying, Bruce had moved closer and draped his cape around him. "In the meantime, my cape is pretty warm."

It is, Jason realizes, warm and heavy in a way that’s immediately comforting. His eyes burn a little. No one’s ever…. He sniffles, feeling like he’s going to cry then immediately feeling stupid for it. But the warmth of Bruce’s cape chases away some of the cold, and Jason pulls it tighter around himself, moving closer to Bruce in the process. Bruce is also warm, and his hand on Jason’s shoulder is even warmer. The fight drains out of him.

"Okay," Jason mutters. "Thirty more minutes."

Bruce’s answer rumbles through him, warming him just as much as the cape. “Sounds good, chum.”

**Author's Note:**

> So my little sister and her husband are super talented and have posted their first webcomic! Please go check it out if you're interested in adorable robot dragons!!
> 
> https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-daybreak-protocol/list?title_no=376987


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